Two for the price of one tonight.
Last night, I cracked open my bottle of "The Flame" by Silver Sage. Silver Sage is a nice little winery in Oliver, and they have a good selection of wines with interesting names, but their real attraction (if you get the chance to see it) are the two sisters who own the place. In particular, there's one who leads the tasting, and the tasting is more like an evangelical church sermon than the more distinguished "sip, swirl, spit" that most tastings involve. In fact, it almost seems like even though you're the one swallowing, she's the one who's getting drunk. And she's not had a sip throughout.
Amongst their offerings are a selection of ice wines. Within their ice wine offerings, there's this one (The Flame) that is just a bit out there - much like their owner. The wine is an ice wine in the most traditional sense... but there's a twist. You don't call a drink "The Flame" if it doesn't have light and heat. The liquid poured into your glass isn't quite as thick or heavy as traditional ice wines, and boy does it pack some heat. Did I mention there was a twist? That twist comes in the form of a goddamn hot pepper sitting in the middle of the uckfaying bottle. The sweetness mixes well with the spicy heat coming from the hot pepper - although the heat from the pepper is hot enough that most people would have trouble sitting through a full bottle by themself. I've yet to finish the last half of the bottle. And it's uckfaying tasty. It shall be finished.
Anyways, the real reason why I started this post is for the 2nd half of this double-bill. I was never really big on red wines from the Okanagan - mainly because BC has been great for white wines primarily, and also to a certain degree, the ice wines. However, I'm proud to announce that I've found a red wine that compares with some of the Australian and South American stuff out there.
Tonight, I'm sipping on a Serendipity Estate Merlot 2011. The Serendipity winery was one that was on my way out of Naramata towards Osoyoos during my Canada 150 road trip. It was an unplanned stop, because I was more interested in going to some of the other wineries that our bed and breakfast host had suggested - but they were all still closed while this one was opened early in the morning. As the saying goes, "the early bird gets the wino" or something like that.
This merlot has all the characteristics of what you'd expect from a merlot - astringency, smoothness, some dark fruit flavour, some smokiness. Unlike most Okanagan reds, it doesn't feel rough around the edges, it doesn't attack your tongue like a white blood cell on a foreign body. The alcohol in the wine doesn't seem overpowering or obnoxious; the mouth feel is like silk sheets.
The initial taste was lightly acidic, but that acidity seemed to feel less prominent as the level in the bottle dropped. There's some fruity notes, and the strongest of the bunch is dark cherry. The astringency then takes over, and thankfully the wine doesn't taste like someone's old leather booth at this stage. There's a bit of an aftertaste, but it's friendly and not attacking, more like a gradual progression towards that sense you feel when you're drinking out of a creek filled with snow melt.
I'm now at my last glass in the bottle, and enjoying every bit of this ruby blessing. Tears (of wine) flow freely. I'm feeling bliss. Just hope I don't wake up with a wicked hangover in the morning.
